From 2 hrs 40 mins to 1 hr 14 mins: Sitharaman's Budget speech evolution

From marathon speeches to concise presentations, Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget journey spans from a record 2 hours 40 minutes in 2020 to a crisp 1 hour 14 minutes in 2025

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made history on Saturday by presenting her eighth consecutive Union Budget, delivering a speech that lasted 1 hour and 14 minutes. This milestone brings her closer to the record of 10 Budgets presented by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who holds the record for the highest number of Budget presentations in India.

 

Chasing records: How Sitharaman compares 

Morarji Desai presented six Budgets as Finance Minister from 1959 to 1964 and another four Budgets between 1967 and 1969. Other notable finance ministers include P Chidambaram, with nine Budgets, and Pranab Mukherjee, who presented eight Budgets under different Prime Ministers.

 

However, Sitharaman holds the unique record of presenting the most consecutive Budgets under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Appointed in 2019 as India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, she has continued in this key role even after PM Modi’s third consecutive term victory in 2024. 

 

Breaking records beyond numbers 

Sitharaman holds the record for the longest Budget speech in India’s history. Her 2020 Budget presentation lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes, though she had to cut it short with two pages remaining. In contrast, her shortest speech was during the 2024 interim Budget, clocking in at just 60 minutes.

 

A timeline of Sitharaman’s Budget speeches: 

- 2020 (Longest): 2 hours 40 minutes

Key highlights: New income tax slabs, LIC IPO announcement.

 

- 2019: 2 hours 17 minutes

Key highlights: 10-point vision for the decade, MSME support, pre-filing of income-tax returns.

 

- 2024 (Shortest): 1 hour 0 minutes

Key highlights: Interim budget with streamlined announcements.

 

- 2025: 1 hour 14 minutes

Key highlights: Focus on fiscal consolidation, infrastructure, and green growth.

 

Longest Budget speeches (by duration):

 

- Nirmala Sitharaman (2020): 2 hours 40 minutes

 

- Nirmala Sitharaman (2019): 2 hours 17 minutes

 

- Jaswant Singh (2003): 2 hours 13 minutes

 

- Arun Jaitley (2014): 2 hours 10 minutes

 

Longest Budget speeches (by word count):

 

- Manmohan Singh (1991): 18,650 words

 

- Arun Jaitley (2018): 18,604 words

 

Shortest Budget speech:

 

Hirubhai M Patel (1977 Interim Budget): 800 words